Hall and Oates are Watching You

Posted On 16 Jul 2015 / 0 Comment

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Has it really been 40 years? According to the wayback time machine it’s about right. Hall and Oates have been a part of my play list for longer than most of you have been alive. And despite that great length of time the music still to this day does not sound dated at all.

Granted, they didn’t follow any real trends although they teased old school R&B and as a kid I thought they (he) were Holland Oates (my mistake). So how did this all work out?

It is simple judging by the sellout crowd at Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheatre on a night of high humidity and melodic tones. Daryl Hall and John Oates brought their white soul and rock to town and pretty much did a paint by the numbers greatest hit set with only a few rare tracks played. And what we’ve become accustomed to lately with old favorites playing to their crowd it was more of a sing-along than a concert we were taking part in. And it is fun.

On this extremely humid evening in the old south it was like summer camp around an imaginary campfire as everyone took part in and those in attendance all probably have a memory associated with the each song they sang along to be it joy, heartbreak or whatever.

Daryl Hall, with his flowing gold locks put on a fine show with guitar in hand. I never really thought of his as much of a musician before. I was used to his voice and his moves on stage back when I saw him and John Oates perform with The Temptations back in the day – over 20 years ago. Wow, has it been that long?

John Oates with his lead guitar work and who penned a lot of those songs that remain stuck in our heads 30-plus years later has matured well finally abandoning the famed mullet and the porn star mustache. Oates seems to be the less appreciated of the duo and he seems fine with it although over the past 15 years he’s done a couple solo albums and has co-written a number of songs for other artists. But it’s all about teamwork and the two work together and still compliment each other well to this day.

The duo, backed by a full band played to a full house a set involving 14 songs total and two encores, not missing a hit. Despite the fact they played almost a year ago in the same place and haven’t put out a new album in almost ten years didn’t seem to faze anyone or their enthusiasm or euphoria for being there.